A BURGLAR who ransacked a charity shop in his home town has been jailed for 34 weeks.

Richard David Simmonds, 35, trashed the St David’s Hospice Shop in Caldicot and left it “spattered with blood” after breaking in during the night on May 9.

Newport Magistrates’ Court heard he also stole more than £500 in cash when he broke into the town’s Cellar Bar and Kitchen on Sunday, November 17, smashing open a fruit machine, four charity collection boxes and two staff tip jars.

Simmonds, pictured right, admitted both burglaries when he appeared in the dock last month and must also pay a victim surcharge of £122.

Volunteers at the St David’s shop were heartbroken to find the store ransacked when they turned up for work last May, with a door smashed open and tools left abandoned next to the shop’s safe.

“It’s unbelievable that anyone would target a charity shop such as ours, that supports their local community and people at the ends of their lives,” said shop manager Charmaine Fuller at the time.

Her fellow worker Jane Ferguson, from Chepstow, added: “I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“The sorting room, at the rear of the shop, had been completely turned upside down.

“Everything in there was everywhere. There was blood on the floor and splattered on clothes and other bric-a-brac in the room.

“Hammers and a screwdriver were abandoned next to the small safe, under a smashed up clothes rail, which they had wrecked but thankfully been unable to open.”

Mrs Ferguson said the burglar appeared to have been injured breaking in.

She said: “I’m just pleased that neither I or anyone else came face to face with whoever it was that caused such devastation in our lovely shop.”

And the charity’s deputy chief executive, Adrian Hadley, said: “I struggle to comprehend the mentality of anyone who can target a charity shop such as ours in this way.”

After the raid on The Cellar Bar, the new owners said they had been “totally devastated” by the break-in.

Caldicot Police tweeted after the court hearing: “In recent weeks, a local male was arrested and charged with burglaries at two business premises in the Caldicot area.

“Today he was in court and pleaded guilty to these offences.

“He was given a 34 week custodial sentence. #dontsteal #localpolicing.”